Abstract
The sensory systems create our mental images of the external world. These representations provide us with information and cues that guide the motor systems to generate movements produced by the coordinated contractions and relaxations. The motor systems are hierarchically organized in the central nervous system (CNS) as the spinal neuronal circuits that control the automatic stereotypic reflexes (Chap. 8). Higher centers in the brainstem mediate postural controlled and rhythmic locomotor movements. The highest centers, including the motor areas of the cerebral cortex, initiate and regulate complex skilled voluntary movements.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Readings
Asanuma H. 1998. The Motor Cortex. New York: Raven
Bock G, Goode J, eds. 1989 Sensory Guidance of Movement. New York: Wiley.
Brooks VB. 1986. The Neural Basis of Motor Control. New York: Oxford University Press.
Capaday C. 2002. The special nature of human walking and its neural control Trends Neurosci. 25:370–376.
Dietz V. 1992. Human neuronal control of automatic functional movements: interaction between central programs and afferent input. Physiol Rev. 72:33–69.
Dum RP, Strick PL. 2002. Motor areas in the frontal lobe of the primate. Physiol Behav. 77:677–682.
Everts E. 1981. Role of motor cortex in voluntary movements in primates. In Brooks VE, ed. Handbook of Physiology. Bethesda, MD: American Physiological Society; 1083–1120.
Fukunaga T, Kubo K, Kawakami Y, Fukashiro S, Kanehisa H, Maganaris CN. 2001. In vivo behaviour of human muscle tendon during walking. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 268:229–233.
Georgopoulos AP. 1994. New concepts in generation of movement. Neuron.13:257–268.
Georgopoulos AP. 2002. Cognitive motor control: spatial and temporal aspects. Curr Opin Neurobiol.12:678–683.
Grillner S. 1996. Neural networks for vertebrate locomotion. Sci Am. 274:64–69.
Grillner S. 2003. The motor infrastructure: from ion Âchannels to neuronal networks. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 4:573–586.
Grillner S, Wallen P. 2004. Innate versus learned movements—a false dichotomy? Prog Brain Res. 143:3–12.
Halsband U, Freund HJ. 1993. Motor learning. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 3:940–949.
Lam T, Pearson KG. 2002. The role of proprioceptive feedback in the regulation and adaptation of locomotor activity. Adv Exp Med Biol. 508:343–355.
Lieber R. 2002. Skeletal Muscle Structure, Function, & Plasticity: The Physiological Basis of Rehabilitation. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Lieber RL, Friden J. 2001. Clinical significance of skeletal muscle architecture. Clin Orthop. 383:140–151.
MacNeilage PF, Davis BL. 2001. Motor mechanisms in speech ontogeny: phylogenetic, neurobiological and linguistic implications. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 11:696–700.
McCrea DA. 2001. Spinal circuitry of sensorimotor control of locomotion. J Physiol. 533:41–50.
Pearson K. 2000. Motor systems. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 10:649–654.
Phillips C. 1986. Movements of the hand. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Rizzolatti G, Luppino G. 2001. The cortical motor system. Neuron. 31:889–901.
Rothwell J. 1994. Control of Human Voluntary Movement. 2nd ed. New York: Chapman & Hall.
Ungerleider LG, Doyon J, Karni A. 2002. Imaging brain plasticity during motor skill learning. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 78:553–564.
Wiesendanger M, Wise SP. 1992. Current issues concerning the functional organization of motor cortical areas in nonhuman primates. Adv Neurol. 57:117–134.
Wing A, Haggard P, Flanagan J. 1996. Hand and Brain: The Neurophysiology and Psychology of Hand Movements. San Diego: Academic Press.
Wise SP. 1985. The primate premotor cortex fifty years after Fulton. Behav Brain Res. 18:79–88.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Strominger, N.L., Demarest, R.J., Laemle, L.B. (2012). Motoneurons and Motor Pathways. In: Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-779-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-779-8_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-778-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-779-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)